Linux Won't Get Aura UI Stack Until Google Chrome 33

While Google's Chrome 32 web-browser will feature the Aura UI stack from Chrome OS, the Chrome desktop web-browser on Linux won't get the GPU-accelerated interface until one version later.

Aura is the UI stack used by Google Chrome OS that can fully take advantage of graphics processors where supported. The only native element/widget is the top-level window while everything else is handled by Chrome and composited by the program itself. Google's goal is to use the same UI stack across Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS (albeit not on OS X or other platforms). While Aura is designed to take advantage of modern GPUs, there is a pure software fallback mode too.

With Chrome 32, Aura will now be used as the UI stack. Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems will support the GPU acceleration code-path while Windows XP and Vista users will be limited to software-accelerated support. The Aura code-path also determines whether WebGL and Pepper-based Flash is using GPU support too.

As shared via the Chromium Google Group last week, the Linux version of Chromium now won't see Aura with GPU acceleration until version 33. In other words, the UI stack should arrive on Linux right around the end of the calendar year.

Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the web-site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience and being the largest web-site devoted to Linux hardware reviews, particularly for products relevant to Linux gamers and enthusiasts but also commonly reviewing servers/workstations and embedded Linux devices. Michael has written more than 10,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics hardware drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated testing software. He can be followed via Twitter and Google+ or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.